


Into The Fog

by Wildcard_Rumi



Category: Persona 4
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-01
Updated: 2019-10-01
Packaged: 2020-11-09 01:28:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,506
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20845298
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wildcard_Rumi/pseuds/Wildcard_Rumi
Summary: An alternative take on the Accomplice Ending from P4G.





	Into The Fog

**Author's Note:**

> I was watching the Accomplice End on YouTube and I noticed a comment about another possible outcome that they thought would have been cool and thought "Wow, that is so angsty.... I have to write it."

The clock ticked away as Yu sat on the sofa in his room. The silver haired boy stared at all of the boxes he had finished packing. The sight really made it sink in: He was going home tomorrow. Although, to say he was 'going home' just didn't feel right to him… He felt more at home here, in Inaba. He had a family who were actually at home… or, he used to, anyway… Dojima was almost always busy with his detective work now… and poor Nanako was still stuck in the hospital. But, Yu had friends here. That was a lot more than he could say about his school in Tokyo.

The thought of his friends troubled him again. He frowned as he glanced out the window, at the thick fog. They had worked so hard to find the truth… but they couldn't do it… or, more accurately, Yu couldn't do it. He knew. Deep down, he knew it was Adachi. But, part of him just couldn't bring himself to believe it. He had grown close to Adachi throughout the year, thanks to all the times Dojima would invite him over for dinner - Adachi always managed to make Nanako smile with his magic tricks - and when they'd bump into each other at Junes and chat. Not to mention, how he kept watch over Dojima when he was in hospital. Yu couldn't help but think of Adachi as a dorky older brother. All of the evidence the Investigation Team had gathered pointed towards Adachi, yet Yu turned away from the truth. Did he make the right call back then? It really didn't feel like it…

The silver eyed boy let out a distressed huff as guilt twisted his stomach. He had to know the truth. He had to know if he was right or not. If he didn't find out now, he'd never have the chance to again. After making up his mind, he went downstairs, picked up the home phone and dialled the number.

"Hello? Detective Tohru Adachi speaking, is there anything I can help you with?"

"A-Adachi-san? Sorry, but there's something I need to talk to you about…"

Yu awkwardly sat on the stiff chair in the interrogation room. He'd only been here once before, but it was a horrible experience. Just sitting in there made his stomach churn. As he anxiously fiddling with his fingers, the door finally opened and in walked Adachi with his usual carefree expression.

"Sorry, were you waiting long?" Asked the detective, stifling a cough.

"No, not at all." Yu quietly answered, pushing himself off the chair.

"Man, things have been crazy lately, I've been putting in an insane amount of overtime…" Adachi huffed with a stretch of his back. Yu could believe that. He'd barely seen Dojima for the past month, thanks to the sheer amount of overtime he had to do.

"Well, anyway, what's with the surprise visit? Did you need something?" Adachi continued. Yu took a deep breath and decided to cut right to the chase.

"Did you do it?"

Adachi just stared at him with a bewildered expression.

"Do… what?" He asked, unsure of what Yu was referring to. The silver haired boy's heart pounded as he specified.

"Did you kill them?"

Adachi's eyes widened.

"Me? Kill Mayumi Yamano and Saki Konishi? Haha, What's this about? Are you serious?" He asked with a nervous chuckle. Yu nodded. The detective's face quickly morphed into an irritated frown.

"Oh come on, even if you're kidding, this is a pretty bad joke." He reprimanded the teen, crossing his arms. After Yu said nothing, Adachi continued.

"Aren't you forgetting? You're the ones who brought Namatame in."

Yu scowled at the floor.

"Something just doesn't feel right…" he softly protested.

"Oh, I get it. You're still playing detective." Adachi huffed, a slight hint of contempt in his voice. Of course, to him it would seem like Yu was just playing a childish game… but to Yu, this was completely serious.

"Okay, say I AM the culprit…" Adachi sighed condescendingly, deciding to play along. Yu cautiously looked back up at him.

"What did you come here to do? Convince me to turn myself in?" The detective asked, staring down at the teen.

"No…" muttered Yu.

'Even if I did, it's not like it would work.' He thought to himself.

"So… what? Are you trying to blackmail me?" Adachi continued, really not seeing what Yu was trying to accomplish.

"N-No…!" Yu protested.

'I'd never sink that low…'

Yu's indecisiveness seemed to annoy Adachi even more as he clicked his tongue and scowled.

"Well, listen up. Unlike you, we police aren't made of time. We still haven't even cleaned up Namatame's mess. Besides, you don't have any proof that I did it." The adult man pointed out, almost teasing Yu. The teen bitterly frowned at the floor in defeat.

"I just need to know the truth…" he whispered.

'I should've known confronting him wouldn't change anything…' he thought as his eyes burned with irritated tears.

"Well? Are you gonna keep playing detective?" Adachi urged, watching Yu expectantly. The silver haired boy stayed silent.

"That's what I thought… Quit playing around and go home, Yu. You've got a busy day tomorrow." Adachi huffed, shaking his head. Yu quietly clicked his tongue as he picked his coat back up from the chair. That conversation confirmed it for him: Adachi was the killer. The fact that he knew Yu was referring to Mayumi Yamano and Saki Konishi when he just said 'them', the almost defensive nature when Yu questioned him, the way he was almost mocking Yu when he pointed out the lack of evidence… No doubt. Yu was right. But, he had no way to prove it.

Adachi acted as if Yu was just a child wasting his time, but he did have one big problem:

Yu knew. 

Sure, he was just a kid, but even one loose end could bring everything crashing down. Yu's uncle was a detective. Not to mention, Yu knew about the letter that Adachi 'forgot' to send to forensics. He carefully watched the boy, analysing any possibilities. That's when it hit him. Yu had his back turned to him, preoccupied by his coat. And right there, in the corner of the room, was a TV. As Yu buttoned up his coat, Adachi stealthily locked the door and shifted over to the silver haired boy. He waited for Yu's hands to be in a vulnerable position… and then struck. He grabbed the back of Yu's neck and shoved him towards the TV. Yu's head slammed into the table with a loud bang.

"Wh-?!" The disorientated boy asked as he instinctively grabbed his now bruised head and tried to turn around. However, Adachi quickly grabbed him by the neck again. This was when Yu realised what was happening. Adachi noticed this too as Yu's eyes widened in fear.

"Hel-!" He tried to call for help, but Adachi shoved his head into the TV.

"No one's coming to save you!" He hissed as he grabbed the teenager's legs and with one final shove: Yu was gone. The detective stood there and glanced up at the clock as he breathed heavily.

11:45PM

"Stupid brat…" he eventually sighed as he cleaned up his disheveled suit and hair before unlocking the door and walking out as if nothing had happened.

Yosuke yawned as he flopped onto his futon. Work dragged on and on today, especially with all the weirdos screaming about the fog. It had been around for a few months now, he didn't understand how they still had the energy to freak out about it. He glanced over at his closet and the shirt hanging from it. When was the last time he had seen Teddie? Why did Teddie suddenly decide to leave? As these questions whirled around his head, he turned his attention to his TV. He had considered going in there to search for Teddie… but the group hadn't gone into the TV ever since the whole Heaven situation. The group hadn't even watched the Midnight Channel since January. Nothing appeared on there ever since Namatame was apprehended, so they didn't see much point anymore.

Although… there was an unsettling feeling in Yosuke's stomach tonight… For some reason, he felt as if he should watch the Midnight Channel…

'Maybe it's just 'cause Yu's going home…' he pondered. It was weird, thinking that his best friend and Partner was leaving tomorrow. It didn't help that terrible things kept happening to Yu throughout the year, especially in recent months. The brown eyed boy frowned sadly as he thought about Nanako and how she was unable to say goodbye to her big bro. A sudden tapping noise on his window pulled Yosuke out of those thoughts. He pushed himself up and peaked out from behind his curtains. It was raining.

"Rain wasn't forecast for tonight?" He muttered in surprise as he watched the rain come pouring down. The uneasy feeling in his stomach grew stronger. Yosuke huffed nervously as he tried to ignore it.

He was just anxious about saying goodbye to Yu. That's what he kept telling himself. Yosuke let out another yawn as he turned his light off and snuggled into his futon.

"Gotta get up early tomorrow… See Yu off at the train station…" he muttered as he drifted off to sleep.

Rain battered against the window of Namatame's hospital room. The man was still wide awake, anxiously biting his nails. He had recovered from his injuries quite a while ago, however he was still being kept in the hospital for his 'mental instability', as the police put it. He knew that his mental state wasn't exactly healthy, but he hated it when the police said it because he knew that wasn't what they meant. He'd heard what his guards said about him. He knew that everyone in Inaba thought he was the killer. Well, everyone, except those kids… He understood why they all despised him at first, but even so, they listened to him… they took him seriously… no one else did that. Namatame let out a shaky sigh as he glanced up at the clock. It was 11:59PM. He shifted slightly, positioning himself in front of the TV. Even though nothing had appeared for months, the anxious man still had a habit of watching the Midnight Channel every time it rained. He didn't expect tonight to be any different.

But he was wrong.

An image appeared. Namatame flinched as he watched carefully, his eyes wide open. It was a boy.

"T-That boy…" Namatame muttered in disbelief. He recognised that boy. He was the young Dojima girl's cousin! He was the boy who listened to Namatame's side of the story! The boy was running. Trying to run away from the monsters closing in on him. He fought back, but it was clear he couldn't see through the fog. Namatame's knuckles turned white as he clenched his fists. The silver haired boy just kept on running, having no idea where he was running to. He kept fighting back with his… Persona? If Namatame remembered correctly, but the monsters just kept growing in numbers and closing in on him.

"C'mon kid… get out of there…" Namatame pleaded under his breath. But his wish fell on deaf ears as one of the monsters struck the teenage boy's shoulder. The strike caused him to lose his balance and collapse onto the floor. As the silver haired boy struggled to get back onto his feet, the shadows jumped on their opportunity. They all struck at once. Even though the TV was muted, Namatame could hear the boy's blood curdling screams as he stared at his agonised expression.

"S-S-Somebody…!" Namatame gasped breathlessly, desperate to save the poor boy. But, what could he do? Even if he told someone, no one would believe him. In their eyes, he was just a crazy killer. No one would ever take him seriously. All he could do was watch as the boy clawed at the ground, trying and failing to pull himself to safety. His bloodshot eyes, his skin dripping in cold sweat, the gashes opening up on his body, his leg twisted backwards; every last part of the image seared itself into Namatame's memory. The man could do nothing but tremble and cry as the final image of the boy's hand desperately reaching out for help and then flopping to the ground, faded to black.

An annoying beeping sound filled Yosuke's ears. He groaned tiredly as he grabbed his phone and turned the alarm off. Rubbing his eyes, he sat himself up and checked the time.

7:00AM.

"Gotta get ready, I guess…" He yawned, pushing himself up and wandering into the bathroom. As he sleepily brushed his teeth, he could hear a lot of sirens in the distance. He hummed curiously as he spat out his toothpaste. He could still hear them as he got himself dressed. As he placed his pyjamas into the laundry basket, his phone rang. It was Chie.

"Hey, Chie."

"Hey, Yosuke. Um, this is gonna make me sound bad but… do you know what time Yu's train is leaving?" The kung fu loving girl awkwardly asked.

"It leaves at 10:00, so we said we'd all meet up in front of the train station at 9:00." Yosuke informed her.

"Okay… That's good, I didn't oversleep…"

"Nope. You didn't."

"That's always a good thing."

"That it is."

An awkward silence fell over the conversation.

"Sorry, Yosuke… it's still kinda sinking in for me… y'know?" Chie quietly apologised.

"Don't apologise, I get exactly what you mean…" Yosuke muttered as he slid his signature headphones around his neck.

"Yeah…"

"Hey, Chie?"

"Yeah?"

"Have you been hearing all those sirens this morning?"

"Yeah, I have… Something big must've happened…"

"D'ya have any idea what's going on?"

"No, I don't…"

Yosuke wasn't sure why, but he felt really uneasy.

"Okay… Well, I'm gonna go pick up Kanji and Naoto." Yosuke spoke up.

"Guess I'll go pick up Yukiko and Rise then." Chie replied.

"Great. See you at the train station then."

"Yep. See you."

Yosuke hung up and slid his phone into his jeans' back pocket as he meandered into the kitchen. His mother was washing up while listening to the radio.

"For the coming week, the rain is coming and going with scattered showers throughout the region. It also seems that the thick fog still shows no signs of dissipating. Traffic officers advise people to drive slowly in places with low visibility. In other news-"

"Good morning, sweetheart." Mama Hanamura greeted her son with a soft smile.

"Morning, mum." Yosuke greeted her back as he placed two slices of bread into the toaster.

"Do you want a cup of coffee?" The mother asked.

"Yeah, please. That'd be great." Yosuke answered as he grabbed the butter from the fridge. The two of them made their breakfast in silence until Mrs. Hanamura spoke up.

"Narukami's going home today, isn't he?"

"...Yeah…" Yosuke huffed dejectedly.

"Don't look so down, sweetheart… You can call him anytime you want to… And besides, I'm sure we'd be able to pay him a quick visit whenever we go to stay with your grandparents!" The mother suggested enthusiastically.

"Yeah, I guess you're right…" Yosuke replied, a small smile making its way onto his face.

"And he promised he'd come back to visit in all the school holidays, didn't he?"

"Yeah…"

"And a certain someone told me that Narukami never breaks his promises."

"Yeah… Yeah, you're right… Thanks, mum." Yosuke chuckled with a grateful smile.

"It's no problem at all, sweetie. Now, get that coffee down you and wake up. You don't wanna fall asleep at the train station." The woman giggled, patting her son's back.

"Very true." Yosuke agreed, taking a large sip from his mug.

"Oh! And make sure you take a jacket, it's still quite cold out there." She reminded him.

"Got it. Thanks, mum." Yosuke thanked her again as he continued peacefully eating his breakfast.

"Wow! You were right, it is cold!" Yosuke gasped as the brisk wind stung his face.

"I told you!" His mother giggled back.

"Well, I'm off. I'm not sure what time I'll be back, I'll text you when I'm heading home." The headphone wearing boy informed his mother.

"Okay then. Have fun, sweetheart!" She called back, waving at her son as he shut the front door behind him. As he walked away from the door, he pulled his glasses out of his jacket pocket and put them on. He quite often wore them when he went out in the fog. It was nice being able to see through it, it made the atmosphere feel a lot less oppressive. He sighed as he walked through the shopping district, sirens still echoing through the air.

"They sound pretty close…" he mumbled thoughtfully to himself. As he walked, he overheard two housewives gossiping.

"They still haven't taken it down yet…"

"I thought all of this was over… Why's another one appeared?!"

A confused frown appeared on Yosuke's face. Just what the hell were they talking about? As he thought this, he saw Kanji exiting Tatsumi Textiles. Yosuke waved at him and quickly jogged over.

"Yo, Senpai. Good mornin'"

"Yeah, morning, Kanji."

"The hell's with all the sirens? Woke me and Ma up…" Kanji grumbled, putting on his own pair of glasses.

"I dunno… They sound pretty close, though…" Yosuke huffed.

"Yeah, they are. I saw a whole buncha police cars parked about two streets over from my window." Kanji informed him, pointing in the direction he was talking about.

"Should we go check it out…?" Yosuke suggested.

"Prolly… If there's that many cars, it's gotta be pretty important." Kanji agreed.

"Right… I should probably let Yu know that we've got a little sidetracked…" Yosuke mumbled, pulling his phone out and tapping on Yu's number.

"You've reached the voicemail of Yu Narukami. Sorry, I'm a little busy right now, but please leave a message and I'll get back to you as soon as possible."

'Huh. Maybe he's doing some last minute packing?' thought Yosuke, surprised that he went to voicemail.

"Hey, Partner. It's me. Listen, Kanji and I may be a lil bit late… possibly. There's been loads of police cars this morning and we've gotta find out what the hell's going on. Sooo, yeah, if we're late: that's why. See you at the train station, buddy. Bye." He explained before sending his message.

"It ain't like Senpai to sleep in?" Kanji remarked.

"Maybe he was up all night packing?" Suggested Yosuke.

"Maybe…" agreed Kanji as the duo rounded the corner. The further along the street they walked, the more curious onlookers they passed. Despite all of the gossip they overheard, the two boys still had no idea what was going on. 

And then they reached the area.

Policemen were talking into their walkie-talkies and questioning the local residents, mothers were hurriedly pushing their children away from the scene, and a huge number of nosey people were staring up in horror.

"The hell're they lookin' up at?" Kanji asked as he lifted his head.

"The telephone wires?" Yosuke suggested, adjusting his gaze upward as well. A choked gasp left both their mouths as they saw what was there.

It was a body.

It was a familiar body.

A teenage boy's body with silver hair and bloodshot eyes.

A mangled body, it's leg completely twisted backwards as it hung there, tangled up in the wires.

Yosuke's knees stung as his legs suddenly gave way beneath him. He wanted to look away. He so desperately wanted to look away… but he couldn't. His eyes were glued to the horrific sight in front of him.

"Y-Yu…" was all that he could say. His head was swimming with thoughts. His instincts were screaming at him to watch the Midnight Channel last night… Why the hell didn't he listen to them?! Did this mean that Namatame really wasn't the killer?!

"What… the hell…?" Kanji uttered, a dumbfounded expression on his face. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. How was their incredible, smart, badass leader… dead? It didn't make sense… It didn't make any sense, dammit!

As Yosuke felt something hot running down his cheeks, he noticed some movement from the corner of his eye. It was Dojima. The pale faced detective squeezed his eyes shut and clamped his hand over his mouth in disbelief. He took a shaky deep breath in an attempt to compose himself.

"Adachi." He spoke up.

"Sir?"

"Call the coroners over. We need to get the body down." Dojima ordered, not making any eye contact whatsoever. He'd have to make a very difficult phone call later on...

"Right away, Sir…" Adachi complied, rushing off down the street. As he got further away from the crowd, his jog slowed to a walk. A scheming smirk crept onto his face. And with that, the culprit and the truth disappeared into the fog.


End file.
